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AprifTSTTWi'. 'jjI9'6J0s1 .R. F. BACON ET AL COLLAF AND GUI-HARD METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed April 1. 1922 L7 ,.BY

A TTORNE Y (NVENTORS Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES RAYMOND F. BACON, OF NEW YORK, AND CLEO H. KIDWELL OF ST. GEORGE, NEW

1,490,081 PATENT OFFICE.

YORK, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 VAN HEUSEN PRODUCTS, LNG,

A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

COLLAR AND CUFF AND OF MAKING THE SAME.

Application filed April. 1, 1922. Serial No. 548,604.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RAYMOND F. BA-

CON, residing in New York city, county and State of New York, and CLEo H. KIDWELL, residing at St. George, Staten Island, Richmond County, State of New York, both citizens of the United States, have jointly invented new and useful Improvements in Collars and Cufis and Methods of Making the Same, of which the following is a specification.

The present lnventlon relates to improvements in collars and cuffs and methods of making the same, and more particularly to collars and cuffs of the semi-stiff type, such,'for example, as those madeof multiple ply interwoven fabric.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide in such cuffs of the French or turn-over variety and in such collars of the folding or turn-down variety and also of the stand-up variety having turn-down tips or wings, permanent fold lines along which the cuffs and collars will tend to fold withput altering the weave of the fabric at such mes.

,Her'etofore, collars and cufis of the character' referred to have in many instances been provided with fold portions of increased flexibilty, the said fold portion being produced in the weaving of the fabric, for example, by omitting certain of the warp threads and the interweave or binder threads along this flexible fold portion. In weaving fabrics in this manner for the manufacture of collars the fabric itself and the weakened fold portions have, in some instances, been given a curvilinear contour by drawing the fabric from the loom over conical take-up rolls, as fully set forth and described in patents to Morgan Nos. 1,254,339 and 1,254,340.

According to the present invention we produce a permanent natural fold of any desired contour and location after the fabric has been woven,"and either before or after the collar or cuff has been out out. The fabric itself may be. woven either in curvilinear or straight form. v i

Broadly stated, our invention comprises, first, subjecting the fabric along the line at which the natural fold is to be produced, to the action of an acid, folding and pressing the fabric along the said natural fold line,

and then washing out the acid. We have perature, and pressing the fabric prefer ably when folded in the desired position, the fabric so treated will be provided with a natural and permanent fold line. That is to say, the fabric when folded will always tend to fold along the line thus treated.

The strength'and the particular kind of acid used, and the duration of the acid treatment vary with the particular material treated. So also the particular method of subjecting the material to the acid' may vary Widely. Accordingly we shall not endeavor herein to describe all of the ways in which our invention may be practiced. But in order that those skilled in the art may understand the invention fully and may apply it to any desired material, we will, for purposes of illustration merely, and not with the intention 'of limiting the scope of the invention in any respect, describe' one way in which we have applied the invention to one type of fabric with excellent results.

The fabric of which the collars and cuffs of semi-stiff typ'eare made may be, for example, a multiple ply interwoven fabric with or without an intermediate filler thread layer or layers. One suitable weave of a fabric of, this type is illustrated and described in the hereinbefore referred to patents to Morgan Nos. 1,254,339 and 1,254,340. Fabricsof this kind possess a considerable degree of inherent stiffness and set, so that, collars and cuffs made therefrom are substantially free from wrinkling and flimsiness and do not require the use of starch or other stiffening material in the laundering operation.

The fabric whose treatment we are about to describe is a two-ply interwoven fabric having an intermediate layer of warp filler threads. For this particular fabric we have found that sulphuric acid of a strength of .5% by weight gives excellent results. The acid may be applied to the V .ing s illustrative of certain embodiments,

100 C. and a pressure comparable to that used in an ordinary commercial ironing machine. After this treatment has been carried out the fabric is washed with water and subsequently, if desired, withan alkaline solution, although we do not consider the alkaline bath to be essential. In carrying out this process the fabric may be ironed flat, after the acid has been applied, and then after washing out the acid, it may be folded along the line of acid treatment and pressed, although we prefer the method described above, namely, pressing the fabric while in folded condltion during the acid treatment.

The pressure and heat treatment to which the fabric is subjected after the acid has been applied, if carried on for too long a eriod will tend to char and discolor the abric. We have found that about one minute is a satisfactory time, although a good fold portion may be obtained without discoloration. by treating the fabric for only a few seconds up to about ten minutes.

'The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawthereof', in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a folding orturn-down collar embodying the inventionj V y Fi .2 is a plan view of the collar of Fig. 1 un olded;

Fig. 3 is a pers ective view of a stand-up collar with turnown wings;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the collar of Fig. 3 laid out flat; and

Fig. 5 shows afcuff of the character that ma be madeiaccording to our invention.

-eferring, to the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a collar of the folding or turndown type, the folding or turn-down portion of which is indicated. by the reference numeral 1, the neck band portion by 2 and the natural fold portion by 3. In the example here shown the fold is curvilinear. The said natural fold portion 3 is produced by treating the fabric along theline at which the collar is to fold with a dilute solution of sulphuric acid, folding the fabric along.

be obvious that a fold line of any degree of curvature may I be obtained either on a stralght woven fabric or on a fabric hav- 1ng a curv l near contour, by varying as solution and then ironing the folded fabric. I

During the pressing or ironing operation the wings '5 may advantageously be held in the same position with respect to the in the finished collar, although we do not intend to limit ourselves to any particular posltion or positions at which the wings;

shall be held.

The cuff of Fig. 5 is of the turn-over or French type and its fold line 7 isproduced in the manner above described.

It will be understood that the pressure to which the folded fabric is subjected may vary widely, depending on the sharpness or acuteness of the fold portion that is desired. Also the temperature may vary, the effect in general being that the lower the temperature the longer the fabric should be subjected to the action of the acid.

In the above specification and in certain of the appended claims we have employed the term semi-stiff as descriptive of the general type of collar or cuff to which this invention refers. mean to define any particular de ree of By this term we ,do not stiffness/but weusel it in a broa sense,

as including all collars and cuffs which, in.

their unstarched condition, possess. greater inherent stiffness than an ordinar un-v starched soft collar or soft cuff 7, such, for example, as those made from materials of the character used in making'negligee shirts.

duced by the method described as being permanent. This term is used in a relative sense only and is intended to cover any natural fold which retains its effectiveness after a succession of launderings.

We do not herein claim-the method ofm chemically producing a natural fold line in collars, cufls or other articles of apparel disclosed in this case, inasmuch as the method constitutes the subject matter of another application filed by usMarch 22, 1923, 7

Serial #626845.

. v The terms and expressionsiwhich we have" employed are usedas terms of description andnot of limitations, and we have no intention, in the use of such terms and ex:

pressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown-and described, or ortions thereof, but recognize that various hand portion as the said wings will take Also, we speak of the naturalfold pro-H modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

WVhat we claim is:

l. A semi-stiff collar or cuff provided with a narrow chemically treated zone which forms the ermanent line of fold of the collar or cu and along which it naturally folds.

2. A collar or cuff made in whole or in part of multiple ply interwoven fabric and provided with a narrow chemically treated Zone which forms a permanent line of fold of the collar or cuff, and along which it naturally folds.

3. A semistiff collar or cuff having a chemically treated natural fold line of unaltered weave and thickness.

4. A collar or cuff made in whole or in part of multiple ply interwoven fabric and provided with a chemically treated natural fold line of unaltered weave and thickness.

5. A semi-stiff collar or cuff having a fold line along which the collar or cuff naturall folds, said fold line being chemically modified.

6. A collar or cuff made in whole or in part of multiple ply interwoven fabric and provided with a fold line along which the collar or cuff naturally folds, said fold line being chemically modified.

7. A semi-stiff collar or cuff provided with a chemically produced permanent fold line,

all other portions of the said collar or cuff,

except the said fold line, being untreated by the chemicals.

8. A collar or cuff made in whole or in part of multiple ply interwoven fabric and provided with a chemically produced permanent fold line, all other portions of the said collar or cuff, except the said fold line, being untreated by the chemicals.

9. A semi-stiff folding or turn-down collar provided with a neckband portion and a. turn-down portion and with a chemically treated and produced fold line between said portions, at which the collar has a permanent tendency to fold.

10. A folding or turn-down collar made in whole or in part of multiple ply interwoven fabric and provided with a neckband portion and a turn-down portion and with a chemically treated and produced fold line between said portions, at which the collar has a permanent tendency to fold.

11. A folding or turn-down collar of multiple ply interwoven fabric provided with a neckband portion and a turn-down portion and with a permanent chemically treated fold line between said portions.

12. A semi-stiff folding or turn-down collar provided with a neckband portion and a turn-down portion and with a permanent chemically treated fold line between said portions.

RAYMOND F. BACON. CLEO H. KIDWELL. 

